The key difference between sustainable buildings and green buildings is that sustainable buildings work taking into account the three pillars of sustainability (people, planet and benefits), while green buildings focus only on the environment. Green materials are renewable, are naturally produced and do not directly contribute to land pollution. Sustainable materials take much more into account than the constitution of the material or its environmental impact. It involves other factors, such as the way in which material is produced and transported and how these processes, in turn, affect the environment, the economy and society as a whole.
The LEED and WELL certifications are green building standards that describe the steps buildings can take to be more environmentally friendly. We act as an IoT partner for companies like yours and work with you to set sustainability goals and manage your data collection, analysis and reporting processes. In short, while sustainable materials may be considered environmentally friendly, not all environmentally friendly materials are sustainable. The differences between sustainable materials and environmentally friendly materials are not limited to the composition of the materials.
For this reason, in order to differentiate between ecological and sustainable materials, it is essential to understand what differentiates “green” from “sustainable”. In addition, sustainable materials have little built-in energy, meaning that the total energy used in the supply chain to make the material available for use must be minimal. Most buildings have existed for decades and were built before ecological and sustainable architecture, design and other similar aspects became a major cause for concern. Sustainability is a broad concept that refers to the overall ability of a building to provide a comfortable, healthy and productive environment in the long term without adversely affecting the environment.
An increasing number of companies are taking advantage of technology, specifically the Internet of Things (IoT), to move towards green and sustainable design and operations. In other words, the habitats of plant and animal life must be protected from permanent destruction during the extraction of natural materials so that they can be considered sustainable. To truly be a sustainable building, this ideology must be “rooted” at every stage of a building's life cycle. Sustainability is not only about the environment, but it also takes into account the impact on social and economic conditions many years from now.
It takes a comprehensive review of the status quo approach to designing and implementing a self-sustaining system. For example, “green initiatives, such as the switch to renewable energy sources or the reduction of the carbon footprint, could be implemented in an effort to become more sustainable. The requirements for environmentally friendly materials are relatively easy to meet compared to sustainable materials.
